Fence construction



' March 17, 1959 c. c. SLATE FENCE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 26, .1954

/NVENTOR CLAUDE C. SLATE BY Hi5 ATTORNEYS HARE/5, K/EcH, Foam? HARR/s' United States Patent FENCE CONSTRUCTION Claude C. Slate, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,197

2 Claims. (CI. 47-33) Frequently, it is desirable to place a small retaining wall or fence around the edge of flower beds, lawns, driveways, etc., in order to improve the appearance of such locations. it is a broad object of the invention to provide a new and improved type of fence construction which is particularly adapted for such use.

This invention may be briefly summarized as embodying novel interlocking fence sections which may be readily located in the ground so as to be interlocked in order to form a fence or retaining wall of the class described. The instant invention is more specifically defined by the claims forming a part of this specification. Further details of the inventive concept will be apparent from the remainder of this specification and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view showing details of a fence construction of this invention;

- Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a section employed in a modified fence construction of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of a plurality of the sections shown in Fig. 2 joined together forming such a modified fence construction;

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of a second modified fence construction of the invention; and

I Fig. 5 is an isometric view of a third type of modified section which can be employed in forming fence constructions as herein indicated.

In Fig. 1 a, fence of the invention is seen as consisting of a plurality of sections 11, each of which includes a center wall 12 and a lower pointed end 14 which is adapted to be driven into the ground 15 so that a small projecting flange or tab 16, formed as by a stamping operation so as to project from one side of the center wall 12, rests against the top surface 17 of the ground 15. In positioning the individual sections 11, these projections ,16 may be readily engaged by the foot of an individual or by an instrument. Each individual section 11 is provided with an enlarged generally cylindrical end 18 and a grasping end 19 which is designed to fit around an adjacent enlarged end 18, as illustrated at the center of Fig. 1. With this specific construction, when the individual sections 11 are positioned as shown it is impossible for these sections to be pulled apart.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing, a slightly modified construction is shown in which an individual section 21 is provided with a center wall 22, one edge of which is attached to a side wall 23 projecting from one side thereof and bent through an angle of 180 so as to form a groove 24, and the opposite edge of which is attached to a side wall 25 which is bent through an angle of 180 to provide an internal groove 26 corresponding to the shape of the wall 23. It will be noted that side wall 25 is olfset by means of a portion bent at right angles to walls 22 and 25, and that the end flange of side wall 25 is parallel to center wall 22, with the outer surface of said flange being substantially aligned with the inner surface of wall 22, i. e., that surface from which lower flange 27 projects. With this specific construction, it is possible to pcsition one of the sections 21 with respect to another section 21 with the wall 23 formed on one section being locked in place within the groove 26 on the next adjacent section, with the center walls 22 in alignment. As shown in Fig. 2, the center wall 22 terminates at its lower edge in a horizontal lower flange 27 which completely seals oil? the bottom of the groove 24, making it necessary for the wall 25 to always be connected to the next adjacent section 21 by being fitted over the wall 23 on the adjacent section. The lower flange 27 is attached to a pointed bottom section 28 which is positioned directly beneath the center wall 22.

As is apparent in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the pointed end 28 is designed to be placed in the ground 15 with the flange 27 projecting against the top 17 of the ground so as to prevent the sections 21 from being inserted to too great a depth. With this specific construction, the flange 27, by virtue of its size, is also effective in preventing the entire fence construction 30 from being tilted.

A plurality of sections 21 can be attached together by means of connectors 31 or 32. As shown in Fig. 3, the connectors 31 are preferably of a substantially S-shaped cross section, and can be utilized so as to enable the flanges 27 to be positioned upon opposite sides of a fence construction 30. The connectors 32 contain side walls 33 of substantially the same shape as the walls 23 and 25 which are connected by means of a bent center section 34. The connectors 32 are thus designed to be used as corners so that an entire fence may be constructed in the form of geometric patterns. If desired, the connectors 31 and 32 may be provided with an elongated flange walls 43 of hooklike configuration which are adapted to hook together as shown in the center of Fig. 4. The hooklike configuration consists of bent portions of the side wall 43 forming folded flanges having a bend with a groove between the inner and outer portions of said flange. These bent portions and flanges are arranged, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the center walls of adjoining connected sections 41 are aligned. The center wall 42 of each of the sections 41 is provided with an offset portion 44 which is adapted to bear against the surface 17 of the ground 15. Each of these offset portions 44 has attached to it a pointed projecting portion 45 which is adapted to engage the ground 15 in the obvious manner.

In Fig. 5, a modified section 51 is shown which is designed to be used in the formation of curb-like fences. This section consists of a generally U -shaped center wall 52, an attached end wall 53 of which is oifset from the surface 54 of the wall 52. One portion 55 of this center wall is provided with a flange 56 of the general nature of the flange 27 shown in Fig. 2, and a lower pointed projection 57 of the general category previously described which is designed to be pressed into the ground. When the section 51 is in the position in which it is used, the flange 56 rests against the surface of the ground. As a plurality of these sections 51 are used in conjunction with one another, the wall 52 of each section overlies the offset wall 53 on the next adjacent sections, forming a very efiicient curb-like wall or fence structure. This structure may broadly be termed interlocking in category because it is comparatively diflicult to separate the individual sections without removing them from the ground.

Those skilled in the art will unquestionably appreciate from a consideration of the drawing the extreme simplicity of the instant invention, as well as its extreme utility. The individual sections employed on any of the Patented Mar. 17, 1959.

easily and "conveniently formed'of sheet metal or any relatively rigid resinous material, such as, for example, a phenol formaldehyde resin by conventional stamping or molding techniques. Further, these individual sections, once manufactured in this manner, may be easily in sorted into the ground by the use of a foot or other instrument. Such other instruments include devices which are designed to engage the upper surface of the individ ualsectionsso as to prevent marring of them as they are driven into place as by the use of a hammer. Once in place the individual sections of the instant invention are extremely etfective for the purpose described. In addition to being capable of being-used as fences, they may be utilized as relatively low retaining walls for garden beds or the like. They are particularly applicable for use in theformation of edging strips. In this use, the individual sections as herein described serve to retain concrete, asphalt, or the like, in location as it is being applied to the ground.

A number of obvious modifications may be made within the essential teachings of the instant invention. As an, example of such modifications, a number of different interloc. ing means may be employed for the specific construction shown, and, instead of the specific flange or projection means illustrated, other constructions of a similar category may be substituted. All such modifications of this category are to be considered as part of the inventive concept insofar as they are defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fence construction comprising a plurality of individual fence sections, each including: a center Wall; means attached to and extending horizontally from said center wall designed to engage the ground so as to prevent the insertion of each section beyond a given depth into the ground; a lower wall extending downward below said last-mentioned means, said' lower wall having a pointed end and being adapted to be placed in the ground, said lower wall being substantially the same width as said center wall; one side wall attached to one edge of said center wall, said one side wall being bent through an angle of 180 so as to form a groove; and another side wall attached to another. edge of said center wall, said otherside wall being b'ent through an angle of 180" so as to have an internal groove corresponding to the shape of said one side wall for slidingly receiving the corresponding one side wall of an adjacent fence section forming a continuous wall above and below the surface of the ground, at least one of said side walls being connected to said center wall by a bent portion whereby center Walls of adjoining; connected sections are aligned.

2. A fence construction comprising a plurality of indi vidual fence sections, each including: a center wall having side edges; means attached to and extending horizontally from said center wall designed to engage the ground so as to prevent the insertion of each section beyond a given depth into the ground; a lower wall extending downward below said last-mentioned means, said lower wall having a pointed end and being adapted to be placed in the ground, said lower wall being substantially the same width as said center wall; and side walls having oppositely folded flanges extending from each of said side edges, each'of said'foldedfianges having a 189" bend forming a groove between inner and outer portions of said flange with said groove having the shape of said outer portion for receiving ,the outer portion of either flange of another identical fence section for interlocking engagement therewith forming a single integrated fence structure, said side edges being connected to said side walls by bent'portions whereby center walls of adjoining interlocked sections are aligned.

References Citerlin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 352,146 Oungst Nov. 9, 1886 397,732 Landis Feb. 12, 1889' 817,508 Niele Apr. 10, 1906 1,851,710 Le Fevre Mar. 29, 1932 2,219,870 Jacobus Oct. 29, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,048 Great Britain Nov. 17, 1894 215,529 Great Britain May 15, 1924 504,333 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1939 

